Checking apparatus for horses.



PATBNTED NOV. 13,1906.

Y F. C. JACOBS. GHBCKING APPARATUS FOR HORSES.

APPLIOATION FILED MAE. 16, 1906.

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@Mmmm Q- AVL FRANK CLARK JACOBS, OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA.

CHECKING APPARATUS FOR HORSES.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 16, 1906. Serial No. 306,419.

Patented Nov. 13, 1906.

To all whom it may con/067%:

Be it known that I, FRANK CLARK JACOBS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bozeman, in the county of Gallatin and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Checking JApparatus for Horses 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the Aaccompanying drawings,- and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in attachments to vehicles and harnesses, whereby the tugs of a harness when slack may be connected to a pivotal lever to the end of which the reins are held and in the event of a horse when at rest attempting to start and straightening out the tugs will cause the lever to tilt and the reins to draw upon the bit.

My invention consists in various details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and then specifically defined in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view showing the application of my invention, and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing parts in elevation.

Reference now being had to the details ofL the drawings by letter, A designates the bed of a vehicle, and B designates a bar which is fastened to the bed, preferably in a vertical position at the front end thereof, and is provided with a suitable catch C at the upper end. D designates a lever which is pivotally connected at D to the lower portion of said plate, and the lower end of the lever extends a suitable distance below the bed of the wagon. E designates a spring which is fastened to said plate, and its upper free end bears yieldingly against said lever and serves to normally hold the same away from said metallic strip B. Stay-rods R are fastened to the opposite sides of the bed of the wagon, and `their inner ends serve to hold the lever in a perpendicular osition. F designates the usual tugs of a harness, which are connected at G to a swingletree H, mounted upon the thills I, and J designates rings,

' which are fastened to said tugs a short distance from the ends of the swingletree. K K designate straps which are fastened each to one of said rings, and their rear ends are fastened at N ,to the lower end of said pivotal ever.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows: When a horse is standing and the tugs are slack, as the operator releases the catch C from the lever the spring E will cause the lever to be thrown forward in the position shown in dotted linesin the drawings, and

the lower end of the lever tilting in the oppo.

site direction will cause the straps K to take up the slack in the tugs, and when the tugs are in these positions the reins Q are fastened to the u per forwardly-extending end of the lever. he parts being thus adjusted,

lshould the horse start upland cause the tugs to straighten, taking up the slack, the lower end ofthe lever will be drawn forward and the upper end to which the reins are fastened will be drawn back toward the bar E, which will serve to check the horse by drawing u on the bits. The pulling pressure upon the its will be gradual owing to the spring bearing against the upper part of the lever, and should the horse stop again after the pressure upon the bits the spring will have a tendency to draw the tugs back, taking up the slack, and the upper end of the lever will relieve the strain upon the bit.

From the foregoing it will be observed that by the provision of the apparatus shown and described an automatic means is afforded whereby the starting of a horse may be checked by causing a pulling upon the reins and bit in the event of the tugs being straightened incident to starting the vehicle to which they are connected.

While Ihave shown my invention as applied to a vehicle to which a single horse is connected, it will be understood that the invention may be utilized for a double harness, whereby either horse starting will pull upon its own bit.

What I claim is- 1. In combination with a vehicle, a pivotal lever connected thereto, a swingletree connected to the vehicle, tugs secured to said swingletree, connections between said lever and the tugs in advance of the swingletree, driving-reins connected at their forward ends to the bits of a harness and adapted to be fastened to the upper end of said lever, as set forth.

2. In combination with a vehicle, a lever IOO Iio

pivotally connected thereto, a swingletree, tugs connected thereto, connections between said lever and tugs in advance of the swingl etree, a spring secured to the vehicle and vadapted to bear against said lever, and reins with bits secured thereto and adapted to be fastened to saidlever, as set forth.

3. In combination with a vehicle, a lever `pivotalljy mounted upon the vehicle, a

4. ln combination with a vehicle, a bar secured thereto, a lever pivoted to said bar, a catch at the upper end of said bar adapted to engage said lever, a spring fixed to the vehicle and bearing yieldingly against said lever above its pivotal point, a swingletree, tugs secured thereto, rings secured to said tugs, straps connecting said rings with the lower end of said lever, and reins with bits secured thereto and adapted to be fastened to the upperend of said lever, as set forth. g

In testimony whereof I hereunto afliX my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK CLARK JACOBS.

Witnesses:

H. H. HoLLoWAY,

H. D. KREMER. 

